Banana storage and show case.



No. '7?6,690. PATENTED DEC. 6, 1904. D. D. RUSH.

BANANA STORAGE AND SHOW CASE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 1.1904.

N() MODEL.

WITNESSES.- f INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY.

UNITED STATES Patented December' 6, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

BANANA STORAGE AND SHOW CASE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 776,690, dated December 6, 1904.

Application filed February I, 1904. Serial No. 191,556, (No model.)

T0 all whom, t muy concern:

Be it known that I, DELBERT D. RUSH, a citi- Zen of the United States, residingat Duluth, in the county of St. Louis and State of Minnesota, whose post-office address is Duluth, Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Banana Storage and Show Cases; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to a banana storage and show case, and has for its object the provision of a show case in which bananas may be ripened or kept at an advantageous temperature.

With these and other objects in view it consists of a partly-transparent case provided with a banana-storage compartment and a heat-generating compartment, perforated diaphragms separating said compartments, and means for suspending said bananas and case.

It also consists of certain other construc-V tions, combinations, and arrangements of parts, as will be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings, Figure l is a perspective view of said invention. Fig. 2 is a central vertical transverse section of a portion of said invention on the line A B of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a central vertical diagonal section of another portion of said invention on the line Y Z of Fig. 1.

Great loss has heretofore been frequently suffered by fruiters and grocers in cold seasons by reason of the skins of bananas being discolored or turned black by being chilled when taken out of a warm storage-room and placed on exhibition in the sales-room. While this chill is usually not sufficient to damage the fruit, .the sales are seriously impaired by the discoloration of the skins and great loss results. It is` therefore desirable to have a practical exhibition-case in which a proper temperature can be maintained. Said case comprises a suitable frame, as 1, provided with glass panels 2, a base 3 of any suitable material or construction, a top 1, doors 5, hinged to said frame, as at 6, and provided with glass panels 7, and a door 8, hinged to said frame, as at 9, and preferably provided with a glass panel 10. Said case is divided into two compartments, as 11 and 12, by a fixed or stationary perforated diaphragm 13, preferably arranged horizontally and secured to supporting ribs or shelves, as 14, forming part of said frame. Against said stationary diaphragm is positioned a slidable perforated diaphragm, as 15, the perforations in which when said sliding diaphragm is in operative position are adapted to register with the perforations in said stationary diaphragm and. the solid portion of which slidable diaphragm is adapted when the latter diaphragm is retracted to cover the perforations in said stationary diaphragm. Said compartment 11 is inclosed, further, by panels 16, either of glass or other suitable material, and is provided with Ventilating-ports in its sides o1' bottom, as at 17 or 17, which ports are respectively adapted to be wholly or partly closed by any suitable means, as by pivoted covers 17'). Said compartment is adapted to contain heat-generating means, as a lamp 18. The cover of said compartment 12 is provided with a Ventilating-port 12u. Secured to the inner side of said cover is a U- strap 19, and to the outer side of said cover is secured an inverted-U strap 20, which straps are secured together by bolts QO Depending from said strap 19 is a hook 21, preferably of swiveled construction, and connected to said strap 2O is a swiveled supporting-hook 22, by means of which latter hook said case may be suspended. The hook 21 is adapted to support a bunch of bananas Q3 within said case. It will be observed that the weight of the bananas is not carried by the frame of said case when said case is suspended. In order to keep said bananas from swaying in the case, I preferably provide the upward-directed hook 24., preferably of swiveled construction, the shank of which preferably extends through a slot 25 in said slidable diaphragm and is secured to said fixed diaphragm, to which hook is preferably secured a cord 26, which'is secured at its opposite end to the lower end of said bunch of bananas. Suitable incisions are preferably made in one edge of said diaphragm 15 and the metal between them turned upward 100 to form a finger-hold 27, by which said diaphragm may be adjusted to its operative or to its retracted positions. Suitable door-fastening means, as hooks 28 and eyes 28, are provided for holding one or all of said doors in closed position. It is evident that said case can as Well be stood upon a counter or other support. I do not, therefore, desire to limit myselrl to a suspended case. It is also obvious that my said case may be modiiied in several minor details of construction by the substitution of mechanical equivalents Without departing from the spirit or scope of my invention.

Having now described my invention, What 'I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is#

In a banana storage and show case, the combination with a case provided With transparent panels and With doors, of a stationary perfo- DELBERI D. RUSH Iitnessesz J AMES T. WATSON, CHARLES S. OLsoN. 

